Improved means foe peopelling vessels



'i y @tt-itch faire. @anni @Hire ROMULUS R. STEVENS, OF MOKELUMNE HILL, CALIFORNIA. Letters Patent No. 70,130, dated October 22,1867,

IMPROVED MEANS FOR PROPELLING VIJSSEILS.

.y TO ALL WHOM I'l- MAY GNGERN:

Bo it known that I, ROMULUS R. STEVENS, of Mokelumne Hill, county of Calaveras, State of lCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Paddles for Steam-Vessels and I do hereby declare the following description and accompanying'drawings are suicient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use my said inventionr or improvements without further inven. tion or experiment,

The nature of my invention is to provide a paddle or paddles for stream-vessels combining a powerful` meansV for propelling a craft swiftly through the water, overcomingthe dead weight or lifting of the water, whereby so great a power `is expended and lost as where the rotary wheel and paddles are used.

To accomplish this object a frame of wood or other material is constructed 5at the sides of the vessel, in which the paddles are placed, which consists of two smaller iron frames upon each side, support-ed by suitable shafts placed across the wooden frame the two iron frames being connected by double eccentrics or cams, with crank-shafts operating in gears.` These cranks connect at each end to a double piston-rod, the paddles being vertically attached to upright bars which extend up through the iron frames. To more fully illustrate and describe my invention, reference is hada@ the-accompanying drawings, and letters marked thereon, of which- Figure 1 is a side sectional elevation, taken through the line :v a'. Figure 2, a plan. y Similar letters indicate like parts in each of the figures.

A is aframe supporting the machinery which in a. vessel would project beyond the sides over the water.A

A shaft, B, extends across this frame, and has keyed to it four eccentrics or cams working in pairs, D D being one pairfandD and D the other, working opposite. Substantial iron frames GGH H are attached to the eccentrics by straps E and E', and extend in opposite directions, parallel'with the` sides of the vessel, their other ends being attached to the shafts C C, which serve as 4crank-pins to the cranks F F. These cranks have the same throw as theeccentrics D D', thus keeping the frames G and H horizontal in their motion, and moving bothends alike. 'Io insure a parallel and regular motion the crank and eccentric-shafts are connected by hevelgearsJ J iJ', the pinions heilig fastened to said shafts, while the wheels are attached to a longitudinal shaft, I. The shaftsg and g', to which the cranks FIF',V are fastened, have the cranks k c at their opposite ends.A These cranks are operated by the connecting-rods L L. M represents the piston-rod, which extends 'through' both cylinder-heads, and is connected 'at each end to the rods L, thus giving motion to the shafts g g and the shaft I.- The gearing J turning the eccentric-shaft a a b b, are the boxes supporting the shafts B, g g, and I. Slots are made in the upper and lower bars of the frames, up through which the vertical paddle-bars O O extend. The paddles P P are connect-ed to the lower portion ofthe vertical bars, being attached in Vthe form of a hollow square, with one or more paddles -placed transversely across the centre, their 'opposite ends Abeing bent around rodspby whichmeans they-are held Vmore firmly together. Each of the paddle-frames is stayed in a proper manner by inner cross-bracesf Connecting-rods H, having set-nuts, are placed across the frames, for raising and lowering the paddles, by changing the rods into holes or slots in the vertical paddle-bars.

, Having thus described my invention, I am well aware that vertical paddles `are known, and that attempts have been made to use 'them' in certain forms for propelling vessels; brit by certain defects in their application to the machinery, and a want of lparalielisln and continuity of action, they were rendered WhatI therefore claim as new in my invention, and desire to secure by ALetters Patent, is-

Ihe combination and arrangement of the cains D D and D D with thc frames II and G and cranks F and F', constructed and arranged to operate the paddles I, as described.

practically useless.

RoMUL'Us R.' STEVENS. [n s] Witnesses E. Sn unam, CH J. Mosman. 

